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©a  W  (DIP  IB<D9lP<D»a 


In  Common  Council,  Feb.  14,  1333. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  several  pa- 
pers and  documents  relative  to  a  new  Street  over 
the  Mill  Creek,  together  icith  the  petition  of  P.  H. 
Pierce  and  others,  have  had  those  subjects  under 
consideration,  have  held  several  meetings,  have 
viewed  the  premises  where  they  propose  opening 
and  widening  the  streets,  and  ask  leave  to 

REPORT 

That  after  fully  investigating  the  subjects  com- 
mitted to  them,  they  are  of  opinion  that  the  public 
convenience  requires  that  the  Mill  Creek  should  be 
laid  in  a  street,  and  widened  to  a  breadth  not  less 
than  forty,  nor  more  than  fifty,  feet, — that  Mer- 


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chant's  Row  should  be  continued  across  Ann  street 
as  nearly  in  a  straight  line  as  it  now  runs  as  possi- 
ble, from  Market  Square  until  it  intersects  the  street 
before  recommended  over  the  Mill  Creek,  of  a  width 
not  less  than  forty  nor  more  than  fifty  feet. 

Your  Committee  find  over  the  Mill  Creek  that  it 
is  from  Fulton  to  Ann  street,     -        -       260  feet. 

"     Ann  to  Hanover  street,     -       -    432  feet. 

"     Hanover  to  Charlestown  street,      440  feet. 


Making  the  whole  length        -        -    1,132  feet. 

To  make  this  street  forty  feet  wide  will  require 
45,280  feet  of  land.  They  also  find  the  whole  num- 
ber of  feet  on  the  Mill  Creek  belonging  to  the  city 
is  27,980 — which  being  deducted  from  the  quantity 
necessary  to  make  the  street,  would  require  the  pur- 
chase of  17,300  feet  of  land — and  if  it  should  be 
thought  expedient,  to  make  the  street  50  feet  wide, 
the  quantity  to  be  purchased  to  complete  the  same 
over  Mill  Creek  would  be  28,600  feet. 

The  whole  distance  from  Ann  street  to  the  inter- 
section of  the  proposed  newT  street  is  156  feet,  and 
the  city  must  necessarily  purchase  the  whole  of  this 
land,  (with  the  exception  of  a  small  passage  way)  as 
it  is  wholly  the  property  of  individuals  ;  therefore, 
the  whole  quantity  to  be  purchased  for  the  continu- 
ance of  Merchants'  Row  to  make  a  forty  feet  street, 
would  be  5,400  feet — and  if  for  a  fifty  feet  street,  it 
^vould  require  the  purchase  of  6,960  feet. 

So  that  the  whole  quantity  to  be  purchased  for 
both  streets  would  be  for  a  forty  feet  street,  22,700 
feet,  for  a  fifty  feet  street,  35,580  feet. 

Your  Committee  further  learn,  that  there  are 
somewhat  more  than  fifty  proprietors,  whose  proper- 


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tj  will  be  variously  affected,  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  demolition  of  those  estates  for  the  continu- 
ance of  Merchant's  Row,  and  those  situated  at  the 
corners  of  the  streets  over  which  we  pass,  most  of 
the  estates  will  be  much  improved. 

And  many  of  the  proprietors  have  expressed  in 
writing,  a  readiness  to  contribute  toward  the  pro- 
posed improvement,  thus  evincing  a  liberality,  highly 
honorable  to  themselves,  and  beneficial  to  the  com- 
munity. 

Your  Committee  are  not  unmindful  that  for  the 
completion  of  those  important  avenues,  a  very  im- 
posing draft  must  necessarily  be  made  on  the  Treas- 
ury— which  they  consider  perfectly  warranted,  by 
the  importance  of  the  proposed  improvement. 

This  subject  having  been  so  recently  committed 
by  a  former  City  Council  that  your  committee  for- 
bear troubling  you  with  a  detail  of  the  necessity  or 
convenience  to  the  public. 

The  completion  of  the  Lowell  Rail  Road  must 
add  very  much  to  the  present  inconvenience,  there 
being  not  a  single  reasonably  wide  avenue  North  of 
Court  street,  by  which  any  communication  may  be 
had  for  all  the  travel,  from  the  great  Eastern,  North- 
ern, and  Western  Routes  to  the  Market,  or  Eastern 
section  of  the  city.  They  therefore  recommend  to 
the  Council,  the  passage  of  the  following  Resolves  : 

Resulted,  That  

with  such  as  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  may  join,  be  a  commit- 
tee with  full  powers  to  widen  Mill  Creek  so  as  to  form  a  street, 
forty  feet  wide  from  Clinton  to  Charlestown  streets,  with  au- 
thority to  extend  the  width  to  fifty  feet,  if  they  should  judge  it 
expedient. 

Resolved,  That  the  same  committee  be  authorised  to  con- 
tinue Merchant's  Row  across  Ann  street,  until  it  intersects  the 


4 


street  over  the  Mill  Creek,  with  the  same  power  in  regard  to 
the  width  as  over  the  street  first  named. 

Resolved,  That  if  the  said  committee  should  consider  it  for 
the  interest  of  the  city,  to  purchase  any  Estate  or  Estates, 
which  may  be  necessary  for  carrying  into  effect  the  foregoing 
resolves,  they  are  hereby  authorized  so  to  do,  in  behalf  of,  and 
for  the  use  of  the  City  of  Boston  :  Provided,  That  no  Estate 
shall  be  purchased  unless  it  be  determined  to  do  so  by  the 
committee,  at  a  meeting  held  for  that  purpose,  and  the  opin- 
ions then  expressed  shall  be  by  signing  their  names  to  a  vote, 
expressive  of  their  approbation  of  the  purchase,  the  price  to  be 
paid,  and  the  terms  of  payment — which  vote  or  approbation 
shall  be  void,  unless  signed  by  at  least  three  fourths  of  the 
committee. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  hereby  appointed  are  not  au- 
thorized to  act  in  the  premises,  until  a  subscription  shall  be 
made  and  placed  in  their  hands,  from  individuals  who  may  be 
benefitted  by  this  improvement,  payable  in  lands,  or  money, 
amounting  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  to  at  least  Twenty 
Thousand  Dollars. 

All  which  is  submitted  by  order,  and  in  behalf  of 
the  Committee. 

ELIPHALET  WILLIAMS,  Chairman. 

The  following  Resolves  and  Orders  are  proposed  by  Mr. 
Hastings,  of  Ward  6,  as  a  substitute  for  the  above  Resolves  : 

Resolved,  That  whenever  the  surveyors  of  highways  deem 
that  the  public  safety  and  convenience  require  that  the  street 
from  Clinton  to  Charlestown  streets  over  the  Mill  Creek  should 
be  widened,  and  also  that  Merchant's  Row  should  be  extended 
and  opened  to  intersect  said  street,  the  City  Council  will 
appropriate  the  money  to  satisfy  any  judgments  that  may  be 
obtained  against  the  city  from  the  owners  of  any  estates  that 
may  be  taken  or  injured. 

Resolved,  That  whenever  the  surveyors  of  highways  deem 
that  the  public  safety  and  convenience  require  that  a  street 
should  be  opened  or  widened  from  Broad  street  to  Sea  street, 
the  City  Council  will  appropriate  the  money  to  satisfy  any 
judgments  that  may  be  obtained  against  the  city  from  the 
owners  of  any  Estates  that  may  be  taken  or  injured. 

Resolved,  That  whenever  the  surveyors  of  highways  deem 
that  the  public  safety  and  convenience  require  that  Commer- 
cial street  should  be  extended  and  opened  to  the  Marine  Rail- 


ways,  or  any  part  of  said  distance,  the  City  Council  will 
appropriate  the  money  to  satisfy  any  judgment  that  may  be 
obtained  against  the  City  from  the  owners  of  any  estates  that 
may  be  taken  or  injured. 

Ordered,  That  if  the  powers  now  possessed  by  the  survey- 
ors of  highways  are  insufficient  to  authorize  them  to  lay  out 
the  two  last  named  streets,  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  ap- 
ply to  the  Legislature  for  such  additional  powers  as  will  enable 
them  to  lay  out  said  streets. 

Ordered,  That  the  foregoing  resolves  shall  remain  in  force 
^uring  the  present  municipal  year,  and  no  longer. 


CITY  OF  BOSTON. 


The  Joint  Committee  appointed  "  to  take  into  consideration 
so  much  of  t/i*  Mayors  Inaugural  address,  as  relates  to  the 
Opening  of  a  marginal  Street  from  Broad  to  Sea  Street." 
ask  leave  respectfully  to 

REPORT 

That  your  committee  held  a  meeting  at  an  early  day  after 
their  appointment,  and  many  of  the  gentlemen  interested  in 
the  proposed  improvement  attended,  and  after  an  interchange 
of  views  on  the  important  subject  of  their  commission,  your 
committee  suggested  to  the  party  present,  the  expediency  of 
causing  a  plan  to  be  made  of  the  proposed  street,  and  to  as- 
certain as  far  as  could  be  done,  what  number  of  the  abutters 
on  the  contemplated  line  would  be  willing  to  relinquish  their 
lands  towards  making  the  street  ;  and  that  so  soon  as  these 
preliminary  measures  were  taken,  the  committee  should  be 
again  called,  further  to  attend  to  the  subject,  and  make  report 
to  the  City  Council . 

In  pursuance  of  this  arrangement,  a  survey  was  made  and 
a  plan  drawn  and  presented  to  your  committee,  of  the  pro- 
posed street,  extending  from  Broad  to  Sea  Street,  forty  feet  in 
width,  but  ^accompanied  with  any  documents  stipulating  for 
the  relinquishment  by  the  abutters  of  the  land  necessary  to 
make  said  street,  and  the  proprietors  were  given  to  under- 
stand, that  the  width  of  the  street,  as  laid  down  on  the  plan, 
would  not  probably  be  satisfactory  to  the  Council  or  to  the 
Surveyors  of  Highways  ;  and  it  was  also  known,  that  it  was 
not  satisfactory  to  some  of  the  abutters  themselves,  in  fact, 
that  some  of  the  principal  proprietors  of  Estates,  through  which 
the  proposed  street  is  laid  down  on  the  plan  to  pass,  are  only 
willing  to  relinquish  their  land  on  the  condition,  that  the  street 
shall  not  be  made  less  than  fifty  feet  in  width. 

It  would  be  almost  superfluous  for  your  committee  to  make 
any  remarks  touching  the  importance  of  the  enterprize  in  ques- 
tion. Every  member  of  the  Council  is  undoubtedly  familiar 
with  the  premises,  and  will  recollect,  that  it  is  an  improvement 
which  has  been  for  many  years  in  agitation,  but  that  after  all, 
it  is  a  measure  which  recommends  itself  first,  to  the  action  of 
the  abutters  themselves,  as  proposed  in  the  present  Report  and, 
if  in  the  prosecution  of  the  necessary  steps  for  its- accomplish- 
ment on  their  part,  any  obstacles  arise,  such  for  instance,  as 
not  being  able  to  obtain  the  relinquishment  of  land  in  all  in- 
stances, that  the  action  of  the  City  Council,  or  that  of  the 
Surveyors  of  Highways,  might  then  be  brought  into  aid  and 
facilitate  the  accomplishment  of  the  desired  object. 


7 


Believing,  from  the  lateness  of  the  season,  anil  the  short 
time  which  will  elapse  before  the  organization  of  a  new  coun- 
cil that  nothing  further  will  be  done  the  present  year  touching 
the  premises,  vour  Committee  report,  that  the  iurthcr  con- 
sideration of  this  subject  be  referred  to  the  next  City  Council. 
All  which  is  respectfully  submitted.  ^ 
For  the  Joint  Committee, 

HENRY  J.  OLIVER,  Chairman 

In  Common  Council,  Dec.  8,  1831. 

Read  and  accepted. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence, 

B.  T.  PIC  KM  AN,  President. 

In  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Dec.  19,  1831  • 
Read  and  Concurred. 

H.  G.  OTIS,  Mayou. 


CITY    OF  BOSTON. 

In  Common  Council,  May  10,  1832. 

The  Committee  of  the  City  Council  to  whom  was  referred  the 
petition  of  the  Hon.  John  Welles  and  others,  praying  that 
"  a  spacious  Street  may  be  opened  upon  the  easterly  margin 
of  the  City  ;  extending  from  the  North  End  to  the  South 
End,"  have  had  the  subject  under  consideration,  aad  ask 
leave  to 

REPORT 

That  two  Committees  of  the  petitioners  appeared  before 
your  Committee,  one  of  whom  represented  the  interest  of  the 
petitioners  between  Foster's  Wharf  and  Sea  Street  ;  and  the 
other,  the  interest  of  those  between  Sea  Street  and  the  new 
Street  now  making  by  the  Land  Commissioner,  near  the  City 
land  East  of  Washington  Street.  Both  of  said  committees 
urged  the  expediency  of  commencing  the  work  immediately, 
and  exhibited  plans  and  estimates,  showing  the  direction  of 
part  of  the  proposed  Street,  and  the  probable  expenses  of 
completing  the  work,  which  plans  and  estimates  accompany 
and  make  a  part  of  this  report. 


8 


One  Committee  of  the  petitioners  oropose  to  continue  Broad 
Street  f  rom  tester's  Wharf  to  Sea  Street,  near  the  bottom  of 
Summer  Street,  a  distance  of  about  two  thousand  feet  ;  and 
Fifty  Feet  in  width,  as  marked  on  the  plan.  The  estimated 
cost  of  making-  this  part  of  the  St/eet,  exclusive  of  paying  for 
land  taken,  amounts  to  the  sum  of  twelve  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  dollars. 

After  thorough  examination  of  the  premises  and  mature  de- 
liberation, your  Committee  are  of  opinion,  that  the  time  has 
arrived  when  this  long  desired  public  improvement  should  be 
made,  the  necessity  and  convenience  of  which  must  be  ap- 
parent to  a  very  large  portion  of  our  fellow  citizens.  Many 
of  the  owners  of  the  land,  over  which  the  Street  is  to  pass, 
are  ready  to  relinquish  all  claims  for  damages,  and  some  are 
willing  to  aid  in  making  the  Street  ;  but  after  all  that  can  be 
done  by  the  individuals  immediately  concerned,  there  will  be 
required,  to  insure  its  completion,  an  appropriation  by  the  go- 
vernment of  ten  thousand  dollars.  Your  Committee  there- 
fore recommend,  that  when  said  Street  shall  be  completely 
made  from  Foster's  Wharf  to  Sea  Street,  fifty  feet  in  width, 
fitted  for  paving  and  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Surveyors  of 
Highways,  that  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  be  paid  by  the 
City  to  defray  the  expenses  thereof;  and  that  whenever  (in 
the  opinion  of  the  Surveyors  of  Highways)  said  Street  shall  be 
sufficiently  settled  ;  the  curb  stones  set  and  the  sidewalks  laid, 
said  Street  be  paved  at  the  public  charge. 

Your  committee  further  state,  that  it  is  also  proposed  by  the 
other  committee  of  the  petitioners,  to  make  a  new  Street  from 
said  Sea  Street  to  Front  Street,  thence  to  the  City  lands  East 
of  Washington  Street  ;  making  a  continuous  Street  from  Broad 
Street  to  the  new  Street  now  making  by  the  Land  Commis- 
sioner, near  the  Dyke, east  of  Washington  Street.  The  im- 
portance of  which,  to  the  best  interest  of  the  City,  will  appear 
obvious  to  all,  who  look  to  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  this  land 
to  pay  the  public  debt  ;  for  should  this  project  succeed  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Neck  lands  will  greatly  rise  in  value. 

It  was  stated  to  your  Committee,  that  that  part  of  said  Street, 
from  Sea  Street  to  Front  Street,  will  be  made  by  the  owners 
of  the  flats  over  which  it  will  pass;  and,  if  the  City  will  appro- 
priate eight  thousand  dollars  towards  the  expense  of  continu- 
ing Front  Street  from  its  present  termination  at  the  South 
Bridge,  to  the  new  Street  near  the  Dyke,  that  said  petitioners 
will  complete  the  same  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Surveyors  of 
Highways  ;  affording  to  the  public  a  direct  and  commodious 
Street  from  Northampton  Street  to  State  Street,  and  all  the 
Wharves  intervening.  It  will  be  perceived  that  to  accomplish 
this  whole  line  of  Street  will  cost  the  City  eighteen  thousand 
dollars.  We  are  aware,  that  so  large  a  sum  ought  not  to  be 
expended  for  one  object  without  great  deliberation  and  urgent 
necessity.    But  after  due  consideration  of  the  magnitude  of 


9 


the  undertaking,  and  the  beneficial  effects  that  must  result  to 
the  public  on  its  completion  ;  and  the  subsequent  advantages 
that  will  be  produced  by  the  improvement,  your  Committee  re- 
commend, as  an  assurance  to  the  petitioners  of  the  Co-opera- 
tion of  the  City  Government,  that  the  following  resolves  be 
passed . 

For  the  Committee. 

C.  WELLS,  Chairman. 


Resolved,  That  as  soon  as  a  Street  fifty  feet  wide,  from  Fos- 
ter's Wharf  to  Sea  Street,  shall  be  completed  by  any  of  the 
abutters  on  said  Street,  fitted  for  paving,  and  the  curb  stones 
set,  and  the  side  walks  laid  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Sur- 
veyors of  Highways,  the  City  Government  will  apply  the  sum 
of  ten  thousand  dollars  towards  the  expenses  of  the  same, 
and  will  cause  said  Street  to  be  paved  at  the  public  charge. 

Resolved,  That  whenever  a  Street  shall  be  made  from  Sea 
Street  to  Front  Street  (over  the  Flats)  and  from  the  present 
termination  of  Front  Street,  near  the  South  Bridge,  to  the 
Street  commenced  near  the  Dyke,  [by  the  Land  Commissioner] 
to  the  acceptance  of  the  Surveyors  of  Highways,  the  City 
Council  will  pay  the  sum  of  eight  thousand  dollars  towards 
defraying  the  expences  thereof. 

In  Common  Council,  May  17,  1832. 

Read  and  the  Resolves,  having  been  twice  read,  passed, 
Yeas,  35  ;  Nays,  none. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence. 

JOHN  P.  BIGELOW,  President. 


In  the  board  of  Aldermen,  May  21,  1832. 
Read — and  concurred, — Yeas,  6  ;  Nays,  none. 

CHARLES  WELLS,  Mayor, 


10 


CITY  OF  BOSTON. 

City  Council,  Sept,  2§j  1831. 

The  Joint  Committee  to  whom  ivas  referred  the  petition  of 
Daniel  Sargent  and  others,  as  also  the  petition  of  William 
Parsons  and  1,400  others,  as  taken  from  the  files,  for  an 
extension  of  Commercial  Street  to  Lynn  Street,  have  at- 
tended to  the  duty  assigned  them,  and  ask  leave  respectfully 
to 

REPORT 

That  they  have  met  the  parties  at  two  several  times,  and 
received  from  them  a  plan,  drawn  by  S.  P.  Fuller,  Esq.  of  the 
continuation  of  Commercial  Street,  as  proposed  by  them,  to- 
gether with  the  conditional  relinquishment  to  the  City  by  the 
principal  abutters  on  the  contemplated  line  of  so  much  oftheir 
land  as  may  be  required  to  make  said  street  (see  paper  num- 
bered 3,)  together  with  sundry  other  documents,  all  which  ac- 
company and  make  part  of  this  Report.  By  recurrence  to  the 
Plan,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  Petitioners  contemplate  con- 
tinuing Commercial  Street  from  its  present  termination  at 
Lewis'  Wharf,  as  far  round  as  the  Marine  Railway,  in  Ann 
Street,  the  whole  expense  of  which  is  estimated  at  $  16,500, 
exclusive  of  the  relinquishment  oftheir  lands  and  the  removal 
of  buildings  as  aforesaid  (see  paper  Xo.  1.)  leaving  the  widen- 
ing of  Ann  Street  as  far  as  Lynn  Street,  to  future  operations, 
as  private  enterprise  may  render  expedient  and  the  public  ne- 
cessity or  convenience  may  require,  it  being  in  the  views  of 
this  Committee  all  important,  that  the  section  of  Ann  Street, 
from  the  Marine  Railway,  should  be  continued  of  the  same 
width  as  Commercial  Street,  and  which  can  probably  be  done 
at  no  very  considerable  expense,  if  widened  principally  on  the 
water  side  of  the  Street  ;  indeed,  the  Street  may  hereafter  go 
across  Hanover  Street,  and  be  continued  of  this  width,  two 
hundred  feet  into  Lynn  Street  on  the  water  side,  with  but  little, 
if  any,  damage  to  the  two  estates  bordering  thereon. 

The  SI  6,500  stated  as  being  the  expense  of  carrying  Com- 
mercial Street  to  the  point  in  Ann  Street  aforenamed,  is  for 
the  purchase  of  some  small  estates,  and  making  compensation 
to  individuals  on  the  route,  whjse  estates  cannot  be  passed 
without  essential  injury  to  them,  and  which  will  be  more  dis- 
tinctly understood  by  following  the  lines  on  the  Plan,  with  the 
explanatory  document  numbered  1,  the  amount  of  all  which  is 
estimated  at  about  §13,500,  the  balance  is  for  the  cost  of 
making  the  Street,  and  putting  it  in  a  condition  for  paving,  as 
per  S.  P.  Fullers'  estimate  of  the'same,  (see  paper  ,No.  20.  and 
is  $3,098  52,  making  together  the  aforesaid  estimate  of  about 


11 


0 


$i  6,500.  The  length  of  the  proposed  extension  of  Commer- 
cial Street  to  Ann  Street  is  1/250  feet,  carrying  a  width  of 
fifty  feet,  the  whole  quantity  of  land  therefore  redeemed  from 
old  wharves,  and  covered  in  part  with  stores,  sheds,  and  other 
wooden  buildings,  together  with  some  dock  will  amount  to  not 
far  from  62,500  square  feet. 

Thus  are  the  Council  made  acquainted  with  all  the  facts 
touching  the  premises  which  your  committee  are  in  posses- 
sion of,  and  in  view  of  which,  your  committee  have  unani- 
mously agreed  to  report  a  Resolve,  recommending  an  appro- 
priation of  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  towards  defraying 
the  cost  of  the  aforesaid  enterprise.  The  work  may  be  coni- 
.nenced  this  fall,  and  the  street,  by  a  condition  among  some  of 
the  abutters  on  the  line  must  be  laid  out,  if  done  agreeably  to 
the  arrangement  among  themselves,  in  all  the  month  of  April 
next,  although  the  principal  part  of  the  ensuing  year  might 
elapse  before  the  money  would  be  called  for  from  the  City. 

Your  Committee  are  not  aware  that  it  is  necessary  to  en- 
large their  present  report  by  any  remarks  by  way  of  argument 
in  favor  of  the  Council,  adopting  the  principal  Resolve,  recom- 
mended by  them,  particularly  when  it  is  borne  in  mind,  that 
the  extension  in  a  northerly  direction  of  Commercial  Street,  as 
now  proposed,  originally  entered  into  the  views  of  the  City 
Council  as  forming  part  of  the  improvement  contemplated  in 
the  laying  out  of  this  Street  A  few,  however,  of  the  many 
other  considerations  which  presented  themselves  to  your  com- 
mittee, they  will  proceed  to  state. 

It  will  readily  occur  to  the  Council,  that  the  project  of  a 
wide  capacious  avenue  around  this  City  had  long  been  in  con- 
templation with  the  old  town  authorities,  and  with  every  City 
Council  since  the  change  of  the  municipal  government.  In 
view  of  this  was  it,  your  committee  believe,  that  both  branches 
of  the  Council  in  the  last  annual  address,  from  its  chief  ma- 
gistrate, had  its  attention  called  to  this  subject,  in  relation  to 
the  extension  of  Broad  Street  round  to  Sea  Street.  Of  no  less 
importance  in  the  view  of  your  committee,  and  most  perfectly 
in  accordance  with  the  views  just  referred  to,  is  the  extension 
of  Commercial  Street  to  Lijnn  Street,  and  when  both  of  these 
Streets  are  completed,  there  will  remain  but  a  small  part  of 
your  City  which  will  not  be  accommodated  with  such  marginal 
street.  Commencing  at  the  oVorth,  and  following  Charles 
River,  you  have  Lynn  Street  forty  feet  wide  on  straight  lines 
to  Causeway  Street,  thence  by  this  Street  which  is  sixty  feet 
in  width  to  Leverett  Street,  thence  to  Brighton  Street,  through 
Brighton  Street,  with  the  omission  of  an  extension  of  this  Street 
across  to  Cambridge  Street,  but  which  the  public  necessity 
will  very  shortly  call  for  to  be  continued  to  Charles  Street, 
thence  through  Pleasant  and  Washington  Streets  to  Roxbury, 
or  a  little  westerly,  over  Tremont  Street,  just  laid  out,  to  Rox- 
bury.   To  return  back  to  the  place  of  beginning,  you  take  a 


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southerly  course  through  Commercial  Street  to  the  J .ong 
Wharf,  theuce  through  India  and  Broad  Streets  to  Sea  Street, 
(the  conjunction  of  these  two  latter  named  Streets  is  now  in 
charge  of  a  joint  committee  of  the  Council)  thence  by  Sea 
Street  to  South  Boston,  or  turning  westerly  through  East  and 
Essex  Streets  to  Front  Street  and  Washington  Street,  er  hy  a 
continuation  of  Front  Street  (already  petitioned  for  to  the 
Council)  to  Northampton  Street  and  iloxbury.  This  is  the 
course  of  a  very  few  years,  with  only  the  continuance  of  the 
past  prosperity  of  our  City,  will  this  very  desirable  object  of  a 
marginal  Street,  embracing  all  the  advantages  of  new  Streets 
and  wide  side  walks,  extending  itself  around  the  City  entire, 
be  accomplished. 

A  more  local,  but  not  less  important  consideration  with  your 
Committee  in  favor  of  the  street  now  proposed  to  be  con- 
structed is  the  present  condition  of  Ann  Street,  a  street  which 
runs  parallel  with,  and  is  about  150  feet  distant  from  the  pro- 
posed street,  and  for  which  the  new  Street  will  be  in  part  a 
substitute,  so  far  at  least  as  lies  in  its  commercial  advantages. 
This  street,  in  its  width  and  lines,  through  its  whole  extent,  as 
has  once  before  been  remarked,  has  been  a  reproach  to  the 
town,  at  least  for  one  generation,  being  only  14  feet  wide  in 
one  place  between  the  side  walks,  and  these  only  two  feet  wide, 
and  from  that,  in  many  places,  only  19  feet  wide,  including 
side  walks,  and  throughout  the  whole  Street  of  no  greater 
average  width  than  24  feet  3  inches,  including  side  walks,  at 
the  same  time  this  Street  is  one  of  the  principal  avenues  from 
the  centre  to  the  north  part  of  the  City  !  Now  the  cost  of 
widening  this  Street,  to  make  it  only  .SO  feet  wide,  as  has  been 
remarked  by  a  former  committee  of  the  Council,  would  at  the 
very  lowest  calculation  amount  to  S  100,000.  In  the  most 
limited  view  of  it,  the  expense  would  unquestionably  be  very 
considerable:  now  here  is  a  proposition  for  a  street,  the  con- 
struction of  which  will  render  unnecessary  any  very  extensive 
widening  in  Ann  Street,  and  which  can  be  obtained  by  the  City 
for  merely  the  sum  of  $10,000.  Your  Committee  know  of  no 
instance  where  a  street  of  such  length  and  width,  and  from 
which  the  public  will  derive  so  many  advantages,  has  been  ob- 
tained at  so  little  cost  to  the  City. 

Again,  your  committee  view  it  as  not  among  the  least  of  the 
considerations  in  favor  of  a  marginal  Street,  and  particularly  in 
the  case  now  referred  to,  that  its  construction  tends  to  promote 
very  greatly,  the  health  of  the  City,  by  the  removal  of  those 
numerous  small  docks  which  are  well  known  to  be  constant 
sources  of  filth,  and  at  low  tides  exceedingly  offensive.  The 
fact  also,  that  such  avenues  bring  nearer  each  other,  remote 
sections  of  the  City,  particularly  in  the  present  instance,  your 
committee  consider  is  not  to  be  lost  sight  of.  The  advantages 
in  the  saving  of  time  to  the  laboring  man  who  passes  from  his 
home  at  the  north  part  of  the  town  to  Long  and  Central 


13 


Wharves  for  instance,  and  his  going  and  returning  four  tunes 
a  day,  is  by  no  means  inconsiderable,  the  City  is  conferring  a 
benefaction  upon  this  class  of  our  community  in  the  attainment 
of  so  desirable  an  object.  The  saving  of  time  and  expense  in 
the  transportation  of  every  description  of  property,  passing 
either  way  is,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  also  entitled 
to  the  regard  of  the  Council,  and  lastly,  by  way  of  an  immediate 
pecuniary  interest  which  the  City  has  in  the  project  under  con- 
sideration, it  is  a  fact  fairly  to  be  assumed,  that  while  in  many 
cases,  sums  as  large  as  that  now  proposed  are  expended  in  the 
straightening  or  widening  streets,  having  regard  to  public  con- 
venience and  to  uniformity  of  appearance,  very  properly  ap- 
propriated undoubtedly,  but  without  one  dollar  ever  coming  in 
of  additional  taxes  to  the  City  Treasury,  while,  in  the  present 
instance,  in  all  probability,  within  three  years  from  the  pay- 
ment of  the  money,  reported  in  the  accompanying  Resolve, 
there  will  be  reimbursable  to  the  Treasury  double,  if  not  three 
fold  the  interest  on  the  expenditure  by  the  City,  in  the  amount 
of  income  from  the  taxable  property  created  by  this  improve- 
ment. 

In  conclusion,  your  committee  indulge  the  belief,  that  there 
can  be  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  general  utility  of  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  proposed  street,  agreeably  to  the  petition 
signed  by  William  Parsons  and  1,400  other  citizens,  originally 
sent  in,  and  now  that  of  Daniel  Sargent  and  others,  the  pre- 
sent year  preferred  before  the  Council,  the  number  and  respec- 
tability of  the  MMpnes  attached  to  the  petitions,  and  the  various 
interests  whichthey  represent,  present  strong  claims  upon  the 
Council,  as  your  committee  humbly  apprehend,  to  the  granting 
their  request,  so  far  as  is  embraced  in  the  first  subsequent  Re- 
solution, which  your  committee  report  and  recommend  the 
adoption  of  by  the  City  Council. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

By  order  and  in  behalf  of  the  joint  committee, 
HENRY  J.  OLIVER,  Chairman. 

Resolved,  First,  That  it  is  expedient  to  appropriate  the  sum 
of  ten  thousand  dollars  towards  the  extension  of  Commercial 
Street  fifty  feet  wide,  from  its  present  termination  at  Lewis' 
Wharf  to  the  Marine  Railway  in  Ann  Street,  said  Street  to  be 
constructed  of  like  materials  with  that  part  already  built,  and 
the  money  to  be  paid  when  the  same  shall  have  been  com- 
pleted to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Surveyors  of  Highways,  pro- 
vided, that  before  any  money  be  applied  by  the  City  to  the  pur- 
poses of  this  Resolve,  the  proprietors  of  all  the  land  shall,  by 
sufficient  deeds,  release  to  the  City,  all  claim  for  damages  or 


14 


compensation  tor  the  lands  or  building,  that  may  be  included 
in  the  lines  of  the  street  that  shall  be  laid  out,  or  that  security 
to  the  satisfaction  and  acceptance  of  the  Mayor  and  Alder- 
men, that  the  City  shall  be  fully  indemnified  from  all  claims 
lor  the  same  shall  be  fust  given. 

Resolved,  Second,  That  all  farther  proceedings  in  the  pre- 
mises, touching  a  choice  of  lines  of  said  street,  as  also  the 
continuation  of  collateral  streets  into  the  new  Street,  together 
with  all  other  matters  in  relation  thereto,  be  referred  to  the 
Surveyors  of  Highways. 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


MULTIPLE  VOlUfV^C  SOUND  rnorrHPP 


